Continuing with the series he started last week, Jim Piascik lists the most exciting prospects in the organization headed into 2013. There are many ways to define exciting, but Jim looked all around the minor league system for players that simply jump off the field at you. Find out who made the list (along with the obvious, Jim's favorite minor leaguer, Dorssys Paulino) after the jump.

Life in the pros consists of day-to-day opportunity. Each day a player treads across the dirt of the diamond, new opportunities surface. For Cleveland Indians’ right-hander Shawn Armstrong, opportunities lie in overlooked places. He had a banner season last year across three levels, and going into this season he is well on the Major League radar. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recently sat down and talked with him and shares what he said in here latest.

The Akron Aeros celebrated an Eastern League Championship win last fall, and with a new season on the loom, they’re looking to win over fans with some ballpark improvements. One is the installation of a new state-of-the-art HD video scoreboard. Stephanie Metzger shares the details.

Rob Bryson has been creating some buzz this winter thanks to his outstanding performance in the Puerto Rican Winter League, but he is hardly ever mentioned when discussions arise about Major League relief pitching options. What does the future hold for Bryson, and does the right-handed pitcher have a future with the Indians? The IBI's Steve Orbanek looks back on Bryson's career in this week's edition of Then & Now.

The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with the latest edition of Then & Now. Steve looks at promising left-hander Giovanni Soto, who is coming off a strong 2012 season with the Akron Aeros. Steve looks back at Soto's career and also touches on how Soto may be able to impact the Major League team moving forward.

The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with a new edition of Then & Now. Thomas Neal put together a brilliant performance for the Akron Aeros this past season and was rewarded with a call up to Cleveland in September. However, Neal's playing time was quite limited, and there's no guarantee that the outfielder is in the Indians plans moving forward. Steve looks back at Neal's career and ponders the California native's future after the jump.

The IPI's Tony Lastoria recently had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with former Double-A Akron pitching coach and new Triple-A Columbus pitching coach Tony Arnold about some of the pitchers he had at Akron this past season. They talked about the strides made by the likes of T.J. House, Trey Haley, Preston Guilmet, Rob Bryson, Shawn Armstrong, Danny Salazar, Brett Brach, Toru Murata and others.

The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with this week's edition of Then & Now. Steve looks at right-hander Trey Haley this week, who just completed his fifth season in the Indians system. Haley arguably possesses the best fastball in the Indians system, but will high walk totals prevent Haley from ever making a Major League impact? Steve looks back at Haley's career after the jump.

The Cleveland Indians have announced their organizational staff alignment within the Player Development System for the upcoming season. Several coaches, managers, coordinators, and special assistants have changes roles for the 2013 season, and we recap them all after the jump.

Today we continue on with our year end stock report on all of the players in the Indians minor league system, and this time look at each player that finished the season at Double-A Akron and the value in the industry each player has. Over the course of the season Tony has spoken to various people in the Indians organization as well as scouts and personnel outside the organization, and shares those insights and more.

The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with this week's edition of Then & Now. Steve takes a look at the career of Adam Abraham, who just completed his fifth season in the Indians system. Because of his right-handed power and versatility, Abraham is somewhat of an intriguing option, but is there any guarantee that Abraham will ever get a chance to prove himself on the Major League level?

Every Friday between today and December 21st, we will look back at the roster movement over the past season for one club in the Cleveland Indians organization. Today, on Black Friday, we take a look at the transactions with a look back at the comings and goings of the players at Double-A Akron.

Jesus Aguilar just completed his fifth season as a member of one of the Cleveland Indians affiliates. The powerful first baseman remains one of the most popular prospects in the Tribe's system, but it's still no foregone conclusion that he will one day be a member of the Indians Major League roster. The IPI's Steve Orbanek looks back at the hulking slugger's career in this week's edition of Then & Now.

Double-A Akron had a great season from start to finish this year. They went 82-59 during the regular season and then marched their way through the Eastern League playoffs to win their fourth title in the history of their franchise. Tony recently had a chance to sit down the Akron manager Chris Tremie and discussed the strides made and areas of improvement needed for several of the position players on his team such as Chun Chen, Roberto Perez, Tyler Holt, Thomas Neal, Jesus Aguilar, Matt Lawson, Adam Abraham and more.

The IPI's Steve Orbanek returns with his latest Then & Now. This week, Steve takes a look at outfielder Tim Fedroff, who is coming off a fantastic 2012 campaign between Akron and Columbus. However, Fedroff will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft in December, so what is his future in the organization moving forward? Steve takes a look after the jump.

Outside of right-handed reliever Cody Allen, no other player moved through the Indians’ system so quickly and at the same time saw his value soar more than right-handed reliever Shawn Armstrong. He piggybacked his strong 2012 campaign with a trip to the Arizona Fall League to continue to test his abilities, develop his stuff, and prove he is ready for a big league opportunity at some point in 2013. Tony recently spoke to him out in Arizona and has all the details on how things are going for him.

T.J. McFarland just completed an up-and-down season for the Akron Aeros and Columbus Clippers. Now, the left-handed starter is very much on the radar of the Major League club. But what does the future hold for McFarland? Is he a pitcher in the mold of Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers? Or is he something more? The IPI's Steve Orbanek looks back at McFarland's career in this week's edition of Then & Now.

Chun-Hsiu Chen has been one of the best offensive performers in the Indians system for years. Yet, because of his lack of power, his future is now uncertain since he made the switch to first base prior to the 2012 season. What does the future hold for Chen? The IPI's Steve Orbanek takes a look as he recaps Chen's career in this week's edition of Then & Now.

Fresh off an Eastern League Championship, the Akron Aeros made more waves on Wednesday when they introduced new owner Ken Babby. The 32-year-old Babby is the owner of fast Forward Sports Group and will replace former team owners Mike and Greg Agganis.

Here are the full stats for both Double-A Akron and Low-A Lake County during their playoff run this season. In doing the Instructional League and Arizona Parallel League stats we realized we forgot to post the final stats for the two playoff teams, so without further ado here they are. They may be a month late, but better late than never!

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!